Official distribution!
Stringsskald – All instruments and vocals (Temnozor, Forest (Rus), Volkoten, Vandal, Woods of Fallen, Nitberg)
Ravnaskrik (Gorruth) – Lyrics (Woods of Fallen, Temnozor)
“Let me try to express how amazing this album is. Lets say this album was an actual person, who one night decided to rape, torture, and murder my friends and family, but not after taking an axe to all of my belongings. How would I respond? I would shake the hand of this album and thank it for its existence. It’s just that good.
Graveforests and Their Shadows is all about atmosphere. The atmosphere crafted in this album could not possibly be any better – the guitar has an absolutely crushing, eerie tone, with haunting keyboards accompanying at a perfect volume. It’s also engaging – there are no ambient passages or samples. Aside from the short keyboard intro, it is all black metal. The guitars simply never stop until the album is over. Thus, the guitar and keyboard combination is integral to the success of the album, and they certainly fulfill their purpose. The keys also provide makeshift bass notes (there’s a bass guitar somewhere in the mix, but it’s very subtle) and add smoothness to the very heavily distorted guitar. The same deep, haunting choir-esque patch is used through out the album. Overall, the haze of the guitar/keyboard mix is what makes this album atmospheric (the songwriting is actually very dynamic).
The vocals are not your typical black metal screeches, they are full-blown wails, echoing despairingly through the dark landscapes created by the instrumentation. They run through basic amounts of a type of distortion, which creates a difficult to describe effect, which is further reverbed for atmospheric effect. Some of the vocals are truly incredible, anguished throat-ripping screams. The lyrics are written by Ravnaskrik, who does not play any instruments in the band (Stringsskald handles that). They are decent, but nothing worth writing a whole lot about. They describe essentially what you see on the cover art. Stringsskald’s delivery of the lyrics is stellar, as noted above.
The drums are programmed. I fucking hate programmed drums, but for some reason, these are passable. The atmosphere is created in such a way that the mechanical (yet tastefully programmed – Stringsskald bothered to put in a healthy amount of different patterns, fills, and other dynamics) percussion adds to certain aspects of the imagery. Real drums would be better but it’s certainly not a deal breaker for this album.
The songwriting could not be any better. Obviously, being atmospheric black metal, it is fairly simple and repetitive, but of course if you are interested in the genre that should not be a bother to you. I can’t think of any throwaway or otherwise meaningless riffs or phrases in any of the songs, everything adds to the atmosphere and to the listening experience. The guitar and keyboard are interlaced so well that even simple riffs (take the opening riff of Mother Ostenvegr) sound absolutely phenomenal. Despite the atmospheric label of the music, there are still dynamics in the songwriting – climaxes, flow through passages of action and buildup, release of tension, etc. The fourth song, Grim Woods, which is quite possibly one of my favorite songs of all time, features many changes in pace and intensity, along with the other two tracks in excess of ten minutes.
This album is truly a treat for the senses. There is not a single fault I can find with the album, and its only weakness is the slightly robotic programmed drums. I highly recommend giving this album a listen if you’re interested in any sort of atmospheric music. It will not let you down.” (review from metal archives)